FAREWELL services will be held at Chester Cathedral next Sunday to mark the retirement of the Dean of Chester, the Very Rev Dr Stephen Smalley.

Hundreds of people are expected at the morning and evening services to pay tribute to Dr Smalley, who is stepping down after 14 years.

Although his official leaving date is July 31, Dr Smalley is no longer at the cathedral as he is taking his last month as a holiday.

He says he has taken with him with many fond memories of his time at Abbey Street.

'Since I have been Dean I have been fortunate to have made many friends in the city, the county, the diocese and overseas,' said Dr Smalley, 70.

'I have enjoyed the important network of the Dean's Breakfast and my membership of the Chester City and Business Clubs.

'I have loved going out into the diocese and meeting many people at institutions and preachments, flower festivals and other purely social occasions.

'I have valued tremendously the ongoing worship of the cathedral, on Sundays and throughout the week.

'I shall miss the rhythm of daily prayer which has been sustained in the cathedral unceasingly for more than 1,000 years.'

But Dr Smalley is not planning to sit back and enjoy a quiet retirement.

He is producing a commentary on Revelations, the most controversial book in the Bible, which predicts the end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Over the past four years he has completed five chapters of his re-interpretation of the book, which will be published in 2003.

His new book will follow on from his 1994 introduction to Revelations, entitled Thunder and Love.

During his time at Chester's historic cathedral, Dr Smalley oversaw a period of change, transforming its culture to make it more accessible and welcoming and safeguarding its future at the heart of city life.

In 1995 he launched the Chester Cathedral appeal, Building For Tomorrow, which raised money to help maintain and improve the building.

It has funded projects such as the creation of a visitors' centre, the refurbishment of the nave and the construction of a new song school for the choirs.

Dr Smalley also strengthened the cathedral's community links, more than trebling the number of representatives from the business community and the public and voluntary sectors.

The group met him each day to discuss community issues at the Dean's Breakfast.

After studying in Cambridge and America as a young priest, Dr Smalley lectured in Nigeria and worked as a curate at St Paul's, London, before becoming Acting Dean of a Cambridge college.